


Dear Moonlight

by ViiMike



Series: Realm of Oaths [4]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, kingdom au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-08-14 01:30:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16483517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViiMike/pseuds/ViiMike
Summary: (Kingdom AU) Arashi Narukami is simply a beautiful flower waiting to be plucked by his prince.※Traces Arashi's story before the timeline ofRealm of Oaths, from when he first met Izumi Sena until he became a knight of the court of newly crowned king Leo Tsukinaga. One-sided Arashi->Izumi, Arashi->Akiomi, mutual past relationship Leo/Arashi.





	1. Chapter 1

Cool air, the soothing quiet of an autumn evening. Fine straw hair freshly cleaned, legs crossed lazily as he leaned back on the chair, Arashi watched the stars pass slowly beyond the window of his bedchamber. Like the world around him, they seemed to drift and dance. Oh, he was drunk.

The sweet wine burned a pleasant trail down his throat as he drank it bit by bit. He laughed quietly to himself. It’s not every day he gets so merry, but the solitude of his chambers was so inviting, and he couldn’t think of better company to spend the night with than his lovely self. He ran a finger down the side of his silver cup, admiring his own long, thin fingers. What god had he pleased to grant him such beauty? Or perhaps, he thought, a rush of giddiness at his blasphemy, perhaps he was a god himself. 

His finger stopped on a relief in the chalice. Round edges of a shield curved to a point at the bottom. A regal banner waved underneath in fine hammered silver, and the telltale claws and fur of the majestic wolf symbol of House Narukami stood proudly above it. Well now, thinking he’s a god is not too far off, is it? He was a member of the Narukamis, a family known to the common people as the “Thunder Gods of the North” –their blood was powerful, and the sounds of their famous forgeries rang with such strength and force that the surrounding villages believed thunder was cracking through the sky. Upholding such an image with such a delicate frame as his own could already be considered a supernatural effort.

Arashi remembered his king once saying something similar, though the expressive ruler put it more as “incredible”, “amazing”, and other such words. Heaven knows how many times he’s heard that now.

Perhaps it was a night such as this. Leo had been sitting in this very chair, this very chalice seated between his fingers. It was one of the rare moments the king felt like chatting for a while, and it was back when Leo was still rather loose-lipped in their private company. Arashi asked what Leo’s hometown was like. Was it beautiful? Arashi wondered. Open up all your senses, Naru, came the casual reply. There’s the gentle crashing of waves, the taste of the salty sea breeze at the beach where Ruka-tan used to run around.

It came as a surprise when he got the question back. Leo never usually asked him about such things. Frankly, Arashi couldn’t come up with much more than “forest” and “lots of snow in winter”. Winter was a big deal where he came from, and perhaps it was the constant cold, or the mountain guardian’s influence, but people were quite reserved and introverted there. Leo nodded along, commenting that it “sounds like Naru”. Is that so, Arashi wondered aloud.

Although, that observation alone made it all the more amusing when Leo’s face twisted into confusion as Arashi talked about how very tall and muscular his brother was, or how big and bearded his father was. And well, Arashi had explained as he recalled the family portrait hanging in their parlor, people always said he resembled his mother more.

She might’ve laughed out loud hearing such a thing, for he’d always been a brat (and he knew it). Rather, as people were apt to do, they would compare his looks to her; his mother was a pretty little thing with long, wispy hair tied up around her head like a halo, light eyelashes dusting the violet eyes she’d passed on to him. Leo interjected to say how beautiful his Naru is, and Arashi smiled, pleased.

Despite his mother’s frail appearance, however, Arashi always had a sort of fear and respect for her, a small woman who had captured the heart of the Lord of the Highlands himself. It was this pride inside her that earned her the right to sit at the lord’s side as a Narukami. To Arashi, it seemed like she always knew all the answers.

Come to think of it, it was his mother who had sent him the chalice in his hands. _My dear Arashi_ , read her accompanying letter, _may this symbol be your source of pride_. 

…Well, thought Arashi, I’ll drink to that. If only to get drunk, that is.

He didn’t reveal everything to Leo that time, of course. He hasn’t even revealed that much to Izumi, but that was mostly because his senior was sharp enough to figure things out on his own. But if, and only if, he was held at knifepoint to reveal everything about his family, he would start with their famous swords.

A Narukami-forged sword was a blade unlike any other in the kingdom. Unique, much like Arashi himself, though it was perhaps unique in the most formidable way possible. The custom blade was traditionally a longsword of broad width and small thickness, heavy for a normal person, but just right for a Narukami. The townsfolk always spoke ridiculous tales about it—the blades could summon thunder! They could lop off a lion’s head with one strike! No one at House Narukami ever denied such tales, either.

He could probably wield one with ease now (with just one hand, even), and it just went to show that the physical strength that began coursing through Arashi’s muscles as a young boy was, in the end, an inevitable process. Every child of House Narukami traditionally began learning the sword when this process began, building upon this natural strength with house-made iron and steel. Arashi’s older brother had just finished going through a growth spurt by the time Arashi started serious sword training, and already had enough strength to spin a Narukami blade above his head as if it were a feather.

At the time, Arashi was neither very good nor very bad at swordfighting, and neither very interested nor very bored with it. Skipping practice sometimes happened, but as long as his aptitude tests turned out fine, no one bothered to scold him. It entirely a useless skill, he’d thought at the time. Who needed a blade when they could probably just punch their enemies to death, anyway? Not that he would. He didn’t fancy punching anybody, and his older brother was more the type to do something like that anyway.

No, he was calling himself a lady now, after all. Ladies didn’t punch anyone, and Arashi was sure that not even in all the little volumes of heroic tales Tsukasa had in bookcases was there a single noblewoman who would fight without elegance and grace. It was kind of like his mother, he thought with a bitter smile. Her dainty hands, thin wrists, fingers as delicate as spider webs – nothing about her suggested she could hack away at a human with a huge two-handed blade. Arashi could say he envied her.

He sighed and clunked the cup down on the table. There was no use thinking about such an ugly emotion. It didn’t suit a lady, after all.

And much more important than random memories of his family was the mirror, he immediately thought, reaching for the one he had lying conveniently on the table. He raised a hand to tuck away a flyaway hair. He’s really changed so much since he held his first sword. His blond locks used to hang far past his shoulders, and sometimes he would recede into it when feeling especially moody (which, upon reflection, was something rather adorable about his younger self), but now his hair was cut short, framing his heart-shaped face. He chuckled and threw a kiss at himself. He then turned the hand mirror to its side, admiring the carvings of lilies and poppies ringing its edge. Izumi really knew how to choose his gifts.

He still remembers when Izumi would fuss with his hair all the time when they were small, pinning it back or braiding it so the front locks were out of Arashi’s face. Izumi was a perfectionist who took much longer on a hairstyle than a child could bother to wait for, so Arashi found a lot of ways to complain about it, which conversely made Izumi even more tiring to hang out with. Though now, Arashi would admit that was partially because he never felt like being nice to Izumi anyway. The grumpy older boy had been Arashi’s first love, after all.

\---

His memories of their first meeting were fuzzy. It was probably when Arashi was still just barely taller than one Narukami sword. He’d been allowed to accompany his family to the capital for the first time, and he was terribly excited about it, for it meant a break from the monotony of House Narukami. He was so used to the trees and the snow, but on the journey, he, his parents, and their cohorts passed villages and open plains and valleys. After a day’s travel, Arashi’s neck started to sweat underneath his heavy cloak, and he knew they’d reached the south.

He didn’t understand at the time why the Narukamis had gone there, or what the significance of a royal name day was. Rather, the sights on the streets were what captured his attention. It was so loud, so warm, so colorful—everywhere he looked were merchants and busy peasants. A peddler, clad in brown robes, loudly attested to the integrity of his wares; blind beggars sat with crumpled hats at the market square steps; rows and rows of shops stood with their cloth awnings; run-down homes pressed up against each other behind impressive statues lining the central pathway straight to the palace. The quiet of the highlands seemed a world away from him now.

At the end of the walk, the royal auditorium stood taller, bigger, more impressive than anything owned by House Narukami, and for the first time in his life, Arashi felt he was looking at something divine. Nothing but a powerful will could have created something so big, and Arashi felt so much smaller by comparison.

Even the servants were clad in rich burgundy fabrics for the occasion. Amid the post-tournament festivities, they smiled at Arashi with strangely white teeth as they handed him a child’s portion of wine, and he stared back wordlessly at them.

“Close that mouth, boy. Hasn’t anyone taught you manners?”

Arashi spun around toward the sharp voice. “Tall” and “gorgeous”, were the first two things that came to his mind upon seeing a boy in front of him, immediately followed by “stern” and “tiring” thanks to the lecture, and then “handsome” in a solid last place. Still remarkably staring open-mouthed, Arashi looked from the foreign-looking curly hairstyle, to the silvery eyebrows slanted over the boy’s almond-shaped, piercing blue eyes, to his curved lips resting in a proud frown, and then down his thin, lithe waist covered by a flattering dark blue tunic. Then, a hand came up to his chin and pushed his mouth closed for him.

“You really shouldn’t be staring at people like that. Who are you, anyway?”

Arashi glanced around quickly. He didn’t want to immediately say he was a Narukami. It would be the same as if he just pulled up his sleeve and started flexing. “Uhh… who are _you_?” he asked back.

The beautiful boy raised an eyebrow. “Are you evading my question?”

“I-I mean, is it even really important? We are all here to enjoy this merry feast after an exciting tournament. Speaking of which, did you see--”

“Are you even supposed to be here right now?” The boy cut him off curtly, and Arashi started to sweat. Were some people not allowed to this function? 

“Yes! I just… can’t tell you who I am.”

“Well, that certainly doesn’t sound suspicious,” the boy said, frown deepening. “Do you know who you’re speaking to? I’m going to be a squire here, you know? I can take you to the authorities right now.” Before Arashi could react, there was a hand around his ear, and it immediately started tugging him toward the exit.

“Hhh—Ouch! Ouch! Fine, fine, I’m Arashi Narukami, of House Narukami!” Arashi finally said, struggling to get out of the boy’s iron grip. What had he done to deserve something like this? he thought indignantly.

“The Wolves of the Highlands?” came the reply. The boy pulled him closer.

“Yes! Yes! My parents… are right over there…! Go ask them—ouch! Stop it already!”

The taller boy finally let go of his ear and clicked his tongue. “Which ones? They are the ones talking to my parents over there?”

Arashi looked over in the direction the boy was pointing to confirm, and indeed he saw his own parents. However, his eyes were more drawn to the couple they were talking to. There was a tall, thin man with a stern, blue stare just like the boy’s, and a woman whose piled, shapely hairstyle could rival a queen’s. Both of them had silvery hair and were unfairly beautiful.

“Those are your parents?” Arashi asked incredulously.

“Yes. Haven’t you studied Eidrheim’s noble houses? We’re House Sena. My name is Izumi Sena.”

“Sena… of the island?” Arashi pulled a guess from the depths of his foggy memory, and to his relief, the boy nodded his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you…?”

“The pleasure is mine, Arashi.” The boy stuck out a hand cordially.

“Oh, don’t call me that… it sounds weird when someone else says it.”

“Don’t call you that? That’s your name. If you don’t like it, then maybe Naru-kun or something will do. Now come on, shake my hand.”

“Naru-kun, huh…” Arashi repeated, ignoring the hand held out to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the sound of that name. In fact, no one had ever called him by a nickname, and it was actually starting to sound even more weird. “Everyone calls me Arashi back home, though…”

“Which is it you want? Or does ‘brat’ work better instead?”

“Huh? Isn’t that kind of a mean nickname?”

“Just full of complaints, aren’t you. Well, if you’re fine just being here by yourself, I guess I’ll leave then. I’ve got other people to greet and talk to, so--”

The boy started to turn away, and in a panic, Arashi grabbed at the boy’s sleeve. He only just started to realize he was being absurd, but he didn’t want to let go of the first other noble he’d ever spoken to, especially not when he was someone around his age. There was something about the air of the capital that made everything magical, and it felt like Izumi Sena would soon disappear along with it if Arashi didn’t reach out.

“No! I mean, ah, okay, Naru-kun is fine!” he insisted. “And what can I call you, huh? Sena-kun?”

“Wouldn’t it be senpai? You don’t look older than, what, ten?”

“H-Hey!” Arashi didn’t know what else to say back, for Izumi had actually guessed his age perfectly. “Well, how old are you?”

“Thirteen,” Izumi replied, puffing out his chest. Arashi looked up at him in awe. Thirteen was practically an adult, wasn’t it? Well, no wonder he was so tall and proud!

“...Fine… Sena-senpai.”

To his surprise, Izumi’s smile in response was rather warm. “Sounds good. Anyhow, Naru-kun, what are you doing around here looking all lost? You’re a noble, don’t you have people to meet?”

It was a bit of a confusing question for Arashi. He didn’t know what Izumi meant by “people to meet” - was it even important that he, the second, smaller son of the Wolves of the Highlands, meet anyone? Did it involve walking up to strangers and talking? It all sounded very tiring and awkward. So he looked at Izumi, head tilted and eyes rather lost.

“What’s that look for?” Izumi returned the confused expression.

“Um… who am I supposed to meet?”

“Whoa, what are you saying? You should already know who you’re supposed to be meeting.” The boy’s expression was now turning into concern, and he crossed his arms, staring down at Arashi. “But come to think of it, you didn’t even recognize House Sena… seems you’re not very serious about your education.” Izumi leaned closer, his voice low and stern. “Look, I’m guessing this is your first time in the capital or whatever. But you know… events like these are super important for your family. Whatever you do is reflecting on them. So you have to start greeting people and making a good impression on them. Got it?”

Arashi squinted. “I guess…?”

“Haa…” The boy sighed heavily and held out a hand. “Come on, I’ll show you how to do it. Engrave this into your head, okay?”

Arashi stared at the hand in mild surprise. This was some sort of offer for help…? His gaze flicked up to Izumi’s eyes for a moment, which were looking straight at him. So the boy was serious… Arashi couldn’t really describe the feeling rising up in his chest. It was a warm feeling, despite the coldness of Izumi’s icy eyes, the chilly, sharp tone of his voice, or the coolness of his hand as Arashi nodded and took it.

Yes, despite all this, Izumi Sena seemed very much like a kind person. And, even after Arashi had to leave for the cold North again on their tall, fluffy winter steeds, the warmth of that little smile on Izumi’s lips wouldn’t leave Arashi’s mind for weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

“So you want to be a noble, huh?”

“That’s not what I asked! Geez, aren’t you listening?”

Izumi’s grin and the casual way his leaned back on a chair in the castle courtyard, crossing his legs and arms at the same time, really made Arashi’s stomach gurgle with annoyance. “You’re accusing me of not listening? Oh I heard you, you’ve been talking about nobles for a while now, you know. And this time, what—you want to know how to continue the conversation? If you don’t know that much, you’re not even a noble yet.”

“Mm--!” Arashi puffed up in indignance. He wondered where the kind, shining Izumi he remembered from their first meeting was. After a few more times seeing each other in the capital he’d been subjected to these sarcastic comments left and right. Was Izumi always this way? Or maybe he remembered wrong… “Well okay, maybe you’re right, but… who are you to say that?” he muttered defiantly.

Izumi leaned closer, as if emphasizing their height difference. “Who am I? Look at yourself first. You don’t know manners, you have talent but you don’t bother to fight well, and the only thing you know way too much about is the gossip in your house or whatever. Not to mention you don’t know how to read music.”—what’s that have to do with anything, Arashi almost cut in before Izumi continued—“What are you supposed to talk to people about, even? I don’t see what exactly makes you a noble besides your birthright.”

Arashi fell silent. He didn’t know what exactly to say to Izumi, because once again (and infuriatingly this time) the older boy was right. And Arashi was wrong, so it was the best not to say anything at all.

Nothing at all. Izumi wouldn’t get a word.

Or even a noise from him.

“Gahh…” After a short moment, Izumi finally let out a frustrated noise and put a hand on his hip. “Look, do you want some help or something? It’s not like you can’t be a noble. You just need some guidance.”

Arashi stubbornly kept his mouth shut… or so he tried. Soon enough, his expression seemed to loosen, and his shoulders drooped. Goodness, it was tiring being so mad at someone. And maybe guidance wasn’t so bad an idea…

But still, Izumi was mean. Arashi took his time responding.

“…Mmkay…”

“Huh? You say something?”

“Okay…”

“You want me to help you?”

Arashi nodded up and down.

“Alright. But first—“ The boy reached out and grabbed Arashi’s nose and shook it. “You’re gonna learn some manners.”

“Gah--!”

Izumi let go of him just as quickly, and Arashi rubbed his nose, sniffing. “Alright. Hope that teaches you not to be a brat while you’re listening to me. Anyway, do you know what a first impression is?”

“Of course I do!”

“Good, then you won’t stand around with your mouth open, waiting for another noble to find you, right?” Izumi had that annoying smirk on his face again. “When you do your first impression, it’s the most important to start with greetings. And make sure you tell them your name, so they know which family you belong to. As I said before, everything you do reflects on your parents, too. So keep that in mind.”

Arashi listened, nodding along grumpily, though he couldn’t exactly imagine his parents caring about those sorts of details.

“And as for topics… Hm… a lot of nobles like to talk about either swordfighting tournaments, or about themselves. …Ah.” Izumi suddenly stopped, as if realizing something.

“What? Did you think of something?”

“Yeah… Say, do you have some kind of… famous goods that your family produces? Like textiles, wood, or something?”

Oh. Arashi was silent for a moment, glancing around in thought. Izumi knew his family’s name and reputation already. He was rather unwilling to keep reminding the beautiful boy of how… thunderous they were. “…Um…… swords.”

“Mm… that’s not exactly a gift you can give at first meeting.” Arashi nodded vigorously in assent. “There has to be something else. Something small that gets their interest really quickly. Kind of like…”

The taller boy trailed off, thinking. Then after a moment, he reached down and rummaged in a pouch he kept at his hip. When he held out his hand again, there was a tiny black velvet sachet sitting on his palm.

“Hold out your hand.” Arashi followed along. Izumi held the sachet over his outstretched hand and emptied its contents.

Arashi peered closely. In his palms was a small, smooth stone of an exquisite turquoise color he’d never seen before. It was oval, just the perfect size to fit inside his fist. While he couldn’t see through it like he would a clear crystal, he noticed it wasn’t all the way opaque, and the edges faded into a delicate, translucent blue.

Arashi’s earlier grumpiness was completely replaced with awe and curiosity. “What… is this?”

“Sea glass. Here, hold it up to the sun.”

Arashi did so, and gasped. The lovely hue wasn’t quite thick enough to block the sun’s rays, and instead it captured that light inside so that the whole stone glowed like gentle blue candlelight. It was a bit like frosted glass (hence the name, he assumed) but even more mesmerizing.

“It’s lovely…”

“Isn’t it? It glows just like the sunshine in water. Have you ever been to the ocean?”

“No, never.”

“Then this is what it looks like underwater as the sun shines from above. The waters by our island aren’t clear or grayish like the lake waters here. They’re blue and green.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. On a sunny day, some people spend hours looking out at it. And this stone, see, sometimes it washes up on our sands. We call it the sea Guardian’s blessing.”

“Wow…! And you just have these there all the time?”

“Not all the time. It’s rare, and this color is even rarer. We like to gather them and use them as pendants, or inlaid in our mirrors, tableware and such.”

“House Sena sounds really rich!”

“It sure is.” Izumi smirked, and with a quick lean forward, he deftly snatched the little stone from Arashi’s hands. By the time Arashi looked back at him, he was sitting back proudly, twirling the sea glass between his fingers.

“Hey--!”

“You get it now?” Izumi continued. “Not only did I start a conversation, I mentioned one of our trades and I made my house seem impressive. I’m guessing it’s a hundred years too early for you to get to this level, but well, you can try.”

“Who even lives a hundred years?” Arashi shook his head. “But I guess I see what you mean… I have to mention all these things in every conversation?”

“Not everything, all the time. Try to think about the person you’re talking to. That’s why it’s important to memorize everything you can about other nobles.”

“It sounds like a lot of work.” Arashi deflated a bit. He couldn’t even count the number of important-looking people he’d seen on this trip already, and it seemed like even more than last time. Not only that, but he’d once heard that this kingdom stretched more than twice the distance between his home and the capital. There had to be more important houses than he could count on his own and his entire family’s fingers combined.

“It is a lot of work. But if you start soon, you might be able to get it down for next time you’re here. For now, just think of the kind of gift you can give people.”

Arashi knit his brows in thought. What sort of gift would that even be? Swords aside, was there anything as pretty or interesting as this that he could bring from the North?

“You can use this as a reference if you like, I guess?” As if reading his mind, Izumi reached out and placed the sea glass back into his palm.

“Wait, you’re giving this to me?”

“I am. Take care of it, okay? As I said, it’s not the easiest to find a piece of this washed up on the beach, you know. So keep it in its pouch and don’t lose it.”

“Okay, okay, Sena-senpai.” Arashi laughed it off, though he followed his senior’s instructions. He didn’t intend on losing something as pretty as this anyway.

Izumi continued looking at him expectantly. “So? What’ll you bring me next time?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t give me that ‘huh’. It’s common sense. You get a gift, you give a gift back. Or do you expect to be ungrateful and make friends with nobles at the same time?”

Arashi pouted.

…But still, what could he bring back from the cold North anyway? Even after returning home that year, he still didn’t know what would be an appropriate present. Izumi didn’t seem the type to like furs or wood or big heavy swords. None of those were quite as delicate and beautiful as the island trinkets.

So, as soon as he came back to House Narukami, he began his research into his area. He spoke to servants, to his parents, walked around the forest to places he’d never been before – then finally, with some help scavenging, he procured a gentle green soap that smelled of cedar. Then, placing it in a little cloth bag, he carried it to the capital next spring.

\---

“How many more do we have to do…?”

“Hey, come on! We’ve barely gotten past the Eastern families! Look here again… House Hidaka is closest to the forest, then House Akehoshi is in the neighboring lands. They—“

“—have been close with each other for many years and have been receiving the protection of the forest Guardian for as long as we can remember. Right?” Arashi sighed, elbow leaning on the windowsill behind his cushioned seat, staring out beyond the glass at the sunny courtyard below. Izumi had decided they would be studying the noble houses inside as the season was turning colder, but Arashi wasn’t exactly fond of the castle library, it being rather dark and musty inside.

“You’ve really done your homework, huh, Naru-kun? Not bad. I don’t hate kids like that.”

“I’m just good at memorizing stuff. Doesn’t need a lot of work.”

“Huh… well, it’s not a bad skill to have.” Izumi closed the heavy tome in front of him with a thump and switched it out for another, equally heavy-looking one. “Now we’ll move on to the southern alliance—“

“Ah, how much more of this stuff do I have to do? I’ve got it already, I just wanna try talking to them now.” He wriggled in his seat childishly.

“Thanks for interrupting me.” Izumi’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on Arashi, but he decided to ignore it. “Is that why you keep staring out the window?”

“Yeah… I’m wondering if the court ladies haven’t gone to the courtyard for tea time yet. It’s nice weather, and they love it outdoors…”

“You sound like you’ve already been talking to them.”

Arashi finally turned toward Izumi, who was unsurprisingly scowling, and chattered excitedly. “I have! You were right about the gift-giving thing, Sena-senpai! It was so easy to talk to them after handing them our soap. I’m so glad I even bothered the servants to make it a bit more spring greenish rather than the boring clear color it usually is.”

“That’s the one thing you put effort into, huh…”

“I have to! No one just walks up to me like they do my brother… I mean, have you seen how he just gets ladies coming to him without all this complicated stuff? I don’t understand.”

“Do you even want that sort of attention?” Izumi raised an eyebrow.

“Huh?” Arashi was rather taken aback by the question. He thought back to how the women treated his brother – fawning over his muscles, asking him about the tournaments he’d won. Arashi wouldn’t exactly have the same things to talk about with them, and he’d probably just be more absorbed in talking about his soap creation, or the things they liked and didn’t like about other people. But was this different from that?

“Mm… maybe…?” His answer ended up being a bit noncommittal, to which Izumi raised an eyebrow.

There was a short awkward silence after that, which is what Arashi really hated the most, so he scooted forward and leaned his arms on the table in front of him. “You know what, though? I’ve been learning a lot of things from the court ladies. They loved the cedar soap, of course, but then when we got talking about soaps, it turned into perfumes and such, and would you believe when I say you can grind flowers into a cream?”

“It’s even better if you add a pinch of sea salt to it…”

Arashi slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward excitedly, ignoring Izumi’s immediate scolding. “Wait, Sena-senpai… you know about this kind of thing?”

“Y-Yeah…?” Izumi looked at him in mild surprise. “Taking care of your skin is just as important as everything else. Didn’t you know that?”

“Not up in the North, we just wash our faces and that’s it. But I didn’t realize that it gets so dry up there too. With that cream it feels so nice… But ah, Sena-senpai, you said something about sea salt? I have no idea where to get something like that—“

“Don’t get sidetracked, Naru-kun,” Izumi said shortly. “It’s not like you spend a lot of time in the capital, so you have to learn about all this first.”

Arashi slumped back on his cushions and pouted while the boy sitting across from him flipped through some pages of family trees. Izumi seemed to really like doing painstaking work like this, to which Arashi only clicked his tongue. Sometimes Izumi was so little fun, such a boring meanie, he wondered how the boy could make so many noble friends so naturally in the first place, and why he thought to teach some other house’s kid about it. What did he have that Arashi didn’t?

He sighed and thought deeply while listening to the sound of the turning pages. Well, the differences between them were pretty clear – Izumi was super hardworking, and Arashi would much rather play… but who had the time to work as hard as the heir to the Sena family anyway? Then again, Izumi had good taste and knew all sorts of things… but Arashi was starting to know a lot as well. They were both fairly good-looking and pretty personable in a conversation, too.

He slowly let his gaze linger to the window to the outside again, and his murky thoughts were only interrupted by the sharp voice dragging him back to his studies.

\---

He didn’t expect to already find his answer within the next few days.

For a good handful of the people he spoke with, he was able to talk animatedly about the gift he’d developed. No one had ever seen something like it before, especially not from the cold North, where only the Narukamis and a few smaller houses really thrived. It was even fun talking with the ladies about its wonderful skin restorative properties, and in turn he’d gotten lots of beauty secrets that he doubted anyone else in House Narukami knew a thing about. It was his own special domain, and it was the best catalyst to make rich friends in the extravagant capital.

It was during one such time that one of the ladies from the West called over her older brother to see the gift Arashi had brought. They were sitting on a bench in the garden during a social meet, and she had been sitting admiring the pretty color of his soap for a while. As her brother walked over, Arashi felt his own stomach tighten a bit – from his experience with older brothers, they didn’t seem to take much interest in stuff like this the same way he did. He hoped the man would just come over for a look and leave.

“Oh, who’s this kid?”

Great, the man wasn’t looking at the soap, but at him. Arashi couldn’t say he was disappointed with the attention, but there was something in that gaze that he didn’t like.

“Arashi Narukami, of House Narukami,” he answered almost on instinct, remembering Izumi’s advice.

“Narukami…?”

Arashi sighed internally. Oh, here it came.

“Oh, you’ve heard of us?” he said pleasantly. Another one of Izumi’s tactics.

“I sure have… the eldest son is sure a strong one, isn’t he?” The man laughed, and Arashi nodded along. “I saw him last tournament, totally blew away the opponents with that huge sword! I can’t believe that’s legal in the games.”

“My older brother is really strong, yes. But… but did you know we always make those swords specifically for use in the games? There’s nothing illegal about them.”

“Is that so? That is really incredible that your brother is so talented… wait, your brother?”

“Yes, that’s my brother. The one growing the beard,” Arashi replied casually. He was used to this shocked reaction as well – no one could tell he and his brother were related just from looking at them. “I take after my mother much more.”

“That’s for sure. I almost doubted you were a Narukami for a solid moment there.” The man slapped him on the shoulder in that mock-friendly way men sometimes did. Arashi smiled uncomfortably.

“Now that you mention it…” the woman Arashi had been talking to cut in. He switched his gaze over to her. Now he had two surprised people on his hands. “I didn’t even think about how you were related to that fighter with the gigantic sword. Is that really true?”

“Yes…? It’s true,” Arashi responded. He wasn’t sure how else to answer the question. He didn’t really have a reason to lie about belonging to the Thunder Gods.

“Oh goodness! That is really interesting! To think there was a Wolf of the Highlands in our midst and we didn’t even recognize it! Well, we were talking about this soap you made, so the connection didn’t even occur to me.”

“The what now? Oh, this thing that you wanted me to see.” The man leaned over and the woman held out a hand to show Arashi’s gift. He picked it up and took a good look at, smelled it, rolled it around in his hands. “How weird, it’s a perfume kind of thing? It smells nice.”

“It’s a real lady’s product,” the woman replied with a laugh.

“Whoa, a lady’s product from House Narukami! How odd…”

“It is really odd, isn’t it? Speaking of which, this is my first time even hearing that there was a second son of the Narukami family. They never really tell us anything, do they?”

“Yes, who knew they had such peculiar hobbies…”

Arashi’s practiced smile began to slip a little. Well, he didn’t particularly like how this conversation was going. The two people in front of him still seemed really amused, and the more they spoke, the less he felt like he wanted to be there to listen. Eventually, he cleared his throat and stood up.

“Okay… Well, I’ll leave you two to admire my handiwork. I have something else to attend to.”

“Oh, sorry for getting wrapped up in our own little conversation! We hope to see you again in the capital, alright?”

He walked away while returning the woman’s wave, but as soon as he was out of eyeshot, the smile melted from his face completely. The magic of the interaction had been broken.

It’s not that he really _minded,_ it’s just that sometimes the topic of his family was a bit weird. Everyone knew his brother, so it was a given that they’d be compared to each other. And they looked so different, too, so it’s not like everyone would realize they were related right away. In fact, it was an incredibly unreasonable thing to expect from anyone. Arashi knew and understood that. So he was confused that it still felt so weird every time.

Or maybe it was just him? They had said the soap was a peculiar hobby, after all. It was way different from his family’s usual image of longswords and layers of furs. Had the other ladies he’d spoken to thought the same thing? That it was just odd? Maybe it would’ve made more sense if he was more into swordfighting or something, and they could see his Narukami strength beginning to kick in. Maybe they all thought he was a fool for getting so excited about creams and salts and whatever it all was. Maybe it was all a mistake. He should’ve left that kind of thing to House Sena.

Oh, that’s right. The difference between them was their house. Their birthright.

“Ah… aghh…”

He groaned in frustration and clenched his fist. His body felt like it was filling up with a hot, burning bile. Arashi could honestly say he hated how it felt, hated it deep in his gut.

He walked on and on and on, hoping the feeling would leave him eventually. He didn’t recognize the hallways around him. It was only his fourth time in the capital, and the castle itself was too gigantic for him to have already explored it fully. But everywhere he went, there was some servant or some noble that looked at him curiously, and he hurried on, trying to look like he knew where he was going.

“Hey, are you alright…?”

Great, one of the servants even tried to speak to him. He supposed he just looked like a mess right now. Before really thinking about what he was doing, he backed away without answering and ran in a different direction. If anyone found out why he was so upset, maybe it’d just be over for him socially—

“Agh!”

Turning the corner, he ran face-first into another body, which yelped in a voice he recognized.

“Naru-kun…?”

His heart dropped into his stomach. Oh, it was Izumi.

Arashi stepped back and brushed himself off, not answering for a moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer Izumi, but he was kind of afraid that whatever came out of his mouth would end up revealing the damning thoughts he had inside his head. He was frustrated, yes, but also kind of glad he had run into someone he knew pretty well.

“Hey… Sena-senpai,” he finally said, looking up at Izumi with as good of a smile as he could manage.

“Hey,” Izumi responded slowly. “What are you doing running around over here? Aren’t you staying in the opposite wing?”

“Yeah well…” Arashi trailed off in search of an effective lie. “I just thought I’d take a walk somewhere else today for a change.”

Izumi looked at him skeptically, and he wasn’t sure if his senior believed him or not. But after a moment, the taller boy sighed. “There isn’t much to see on this side, you know. Most people would probably be in the garden around this time. Maybe you should go walk over there and see if you can talk to some people?”

Arashi gulped. Well, he couldn’t exactly reveal he just came out of the garden, could he? “Well, no, I just wanted to get some air. I’ll go right back to talking to people later! Ohh, but, Sena-senpai, weren’t we supposed to do something later?” He shoved the topic to the side in hopes that Izumi wouldn’t notice.

Thankfully, the older boy took the bait. “Mm? …Now that you mention it, we do.”

“What was it again…?”

“Your first swordfighting session. We talked about it before, Naru-kun. You should remember this kind of thing.”

Arashi’s smile froze on his face. Swordfighting, huh? Maybe that was just what he needed. “What? Oh, of course I remembered it! Silly Sena-senpai, why would you think I forgot? I’m good at remembering things, right?”

The wrinkle between Izumi’s brows deepened considerably. “So why did you bring it up?”

“Well, I was thinking we could do it a bit earlier? Like right now? I’ve been looking forward to it, you know?”

“You what?”

“Come on! Let’s grab some swords and go! En garde and all that, right?”

“Wait, don’t pull at me! You brat…!”

If he remembered right, the courtyard was where they were supposed to practice. There was a lot of space, and the armory wasn’t too far, the two of them could stand comfortably far apart in order to practice waving around their swords.

Izumi holding a beautifully crafted rapier. The boy just started training as a squire the year before at the age of 15, and his skills showed for it – he held the sword in his hands as if it were effortless, like a sharp little feather that he danced around with. To Arashi, who was so used to looking at the large, flat Narukami swords, it looked like it could break any moment.

“Oh wow, you’re so good with that sword,” Arashi couldn’t help but comment.

“It’s not so easy to be a court squire,” Izumi had answered him with a smirk. Arashi watched him open-mouthed. “What, are you wondering how I did that move? Look, take yours and…”

The explanation was pretty lengthy. As he spoke, Izumi flicked his sword and sidestepped, turned his wrist and made a graceful arc with the blade.

“Hey, what did I say about staring with your mouth open? Geez, it’s like I have to teach you manners from square one. I can’t believe you’re a noble.”

“I can’t believe we’re nobles either!!” Arashi nodded vigorously.

“Haa… No, you shouldn’t be badmouthing your family like that. It makes you sound like a stupid brat. Which is really what you are.” Izumi sidestepped again. “Alright, got it? We’re going to repeat this until you can do it perfectly.”

He nodded and attempted the combination move. However, with his unbridled swing, the sword moved much further than he intended, and Izumi’s eyes opened wide in shock as he quickly leaned backward, the blade just an inch away from his nose.

“Watch it! There’s no need to put so much force into it,” Izumi commented with a frown.

“I’ll try again…”

This time, he swung with as little strength as he could. The sword, though light, weighed down on his hand, and he lost his balance.

“Not so light! This isn’t your writing quill!”

Arashi sighed loudly enough for Izumi to hear and took a few more swings. Each of them seemed more difficult than the last. Sometimes he’d lose his footing, or sometimes he’d step too far, or sometimes the angle wasn’t quite right. Izumi always found something wrong with what he did. It was definitely getting frustrating, and after the umpteenth try, Arashi let his sword arm fall and put a hand on his hip.

“Look, Sena…”

“…senpai.”

He smiled nastily. “Sena-senpai! I don’t think I can do this.”

“You’ve barely even tried… It took me many days to do this as well as I can now.”

“But it’s hard… this thing is so light, it feels like I’m not even holding anything,” Arashi groaned, waving the borrowed rapier around.

“Do you wanna change swords?” Izumi looked at him skeptically. “You’re the one who asked to borrow a rapier.”

“But it’s so pretty…! Can’t I just have it? Just to look at?” He swung the sword so that it stood upward, and he could examine the silver blade.

“No. You’re going to learn how to use it too. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Oh, god. Arashi wanted to ask Izumi the exact same thing. What’s the point indeed? But instead he spun the blade down again so he could lean on it. Izumi raised his eyebrows at that, of course. “Okay, but I’m way too strong for this sword, see. There’s this Narukami thing we have… uhh… Thunder Gods? Right? You remember that?”

“Then switch out swords.” Izumi sighed, holding out a hand. Arashi curled away, holding the pretty sword protectively in his arms. Izumi groaned and put the extended hand on his hip. “I’ve never heard you use that kind of excuse before. Do you want to learn how to do this or not?”

“You’re the one who dragged me here in the first place, so no?”

He could immediately tell this didn’t sit well with Izumi, if only for the wrinkle between those silver eyebrows getting increasingly deep. “Just hurry up and do it! What kind of noble out there skips his practices and etiquette lessons, huh? Who do you even think you are?”

Arashi pursed his lips, trying to look as grumpy as he could, hoping it’d cover for the fact that he didn’t have an answer to that question. He really didn’t like all that scolding. His admiration and patience for Izumi were quickly running out, and he was just plain getting annoyed.

And honestly, he wished Izumi would just realize he should be left alone.

“Alright,” he finally said. “Well, who said I was some stuffy noble anyway?”

And that was that. With an unceremonious clunk, he threw the sword in his hand to the ground and walked away.

\---

Arashi didn’t get it. The capital was so cheery and bright during the tournament procession, colored decorations everywhere, clean streets and extravagant centerpieces, overlaying voices of the citizens nearly drowning out the music, and yet he didn’t feel festive at all. The happy music even sounded oppressive to him.

He sighed heavily, irritated, and left the vendor he’d been looking at without a word. Usually during this time, he’d step out of his place for a while to pick up a keepsake or two, a new brooch or a woven belt that caught his fancy, but nothing was standing out to him today. He’d wanted something to match his blue tunic, and frankly, also a distraction from his disagreement with Izumi the day before. It didn’t help that all the pretty blue accessories he was looking at reminded him of Izumi’s eyes.

“Stupid Sena… No—“ Arashi interrupted himself with a huff. “Stupid Izumi.” He crossed his arms and marched off to the next booth of wares.

This one looked rather official—the wooden booth had a large canopy over it, with a tent in the back for larger stocks of goods. Arashi stepped closer, mouth open as he stared at the items laid out across the table. They were small things, of all different shapes and colors; little turquoise stones set in thin metal wires, hammered silver circles, gold loops too small for bracelets, small white shells that glimmered in a way Arashi had never seen before. Everything was small and came either alone or in a set of two. They were like tiny brooches.

“What’s up there, lad? Interested in our wares?” Arashi looked up quickly to see a man standing behind the table. It was rather sudden, and Arashi guessed he might’ve come out from the tent inside. “We’ve just got in some shells from the Western shores. These are a real popular item, perfect for the most beautiful lady in town.” Arashi stared at him. He was kind of a good looking guy, sharp features and a wide smile. “And well, if you’re lookin’ for something for yourself, I can recommend you this silver loop. Gives a man a little edge, if you know what I mean.”

Arashi didn’t know what he meant. “What… are these? They’re so small…”

“Hmm…? What’s that? You don’t know what these are?” The man laughed, his smile friendly. “Okay, I get it. This is your first time in the capital, huh. Well, over here in the south, we have this fashionable trend, see? These are called earrings! You hang them on your ears, lad!”

On your ears? Arashi furrowed his brow in confusion. There were so many of these earring things on the table, and all of them had a hook made of thin metal in them. He touched his ear, feeling around for a possible place to put it. How odd, he thought, maybe it was hung from the front of the ear?

“You seem concerned, my friend. Take a look at my ear.” The man turned his head and pointed, and Arashi gasped. “That’s right, you just hang it from the lobe like so!”

Arashi held onto his own earlobe subconsciously. “N-No way… Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Not as much as it looks good! Why, I could see you with a silver loop just like mine! It’d enhance your already pretty face.” The man laughed and leaned toward Arashi, which made Arashi blush a little. “Tell you what… we can do the piercing for you here, and if you just pay for that, we’ll throw in one of those nice silver loops for free. Then you can go wearing whatever you like there. How about it?”

Arashi gulped. Well, the offer did sound tempting. “Uh…? Is… is it gonna be permanent?”

“Look here.” The man turned his head again, and Arashi watched in horror as the loop was removed from the thin skin. “There, just a little hole, but it barely looks like anything, right? You can get ‘em pierced and just forget about it after! Nothin’ to worry about there. Lots of people have ‘em.”

Arashi stared in wonder. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to stick something through his ear, but he had to admit that it did look really beautiful. His eyes dropped to the little jewels on table again. Those little stones, dangling from his ears… everyone would be looking at him and how pretty his face was. Even Izumi might be jealous of him. He giggled at the thought. “Okay, you know what? I’ll take you up on your offer. How much silver are we looking at?”

“Twenty silver and five minutes of your time, lad. Just come around the corner and we’ll take you into the back for the piercing.” The man’s smile was still so wide as he moved around the edge of the booth and held out a hand. He was really, really handsome, huh, Arashi thought as he walked over and reached to take it.

“Naaaaru-kuuun, what the _hell_ are you doing out here?”

Arashi felt his whole body stiffen. Behind him, there was a voice that should not have been there.

“I-Izumi…?” he squeaked, quickly retracting his hand. “What are you— Ouch!” Izumi’s strong fingers seized his wrist, preventing him from running anywhere.

“What are _you_ doing here was my question,” Izumi said with a scowl. “Ear piercing is a commoner’s practice. Have you forgotten you’re the son of a lord?”

The lord question made Arashi annoyed, of course, but his surprise was stronger. “Wait, you know what earrings are?”

“Tch, of course I do. What do you take me for?” Izumi scoffed. “But that’s not important. You’re being an idiot right now, and if you get your ears pierced at a place like that, it’ll curse you. You don’t want your ears to get big and red and disgusting.”

“That’s gross… B-But…” Arashi glanced back at the man, who seemed a little less happy at this new visitor. “But this man has a piercing, doesn’t he?”

“Trust me. I know what it does to you. Or are you gonna trust some guy in the streets over your senior?”

“…” Arashi stuck out his bottom lip. Izumi had a fair point, and he had nothing to say back to it. With a little sigh, he let his hands fall to his sides.

“Alright, sounds like you understand. Now come on, before this guy snatches your ears away. And how many times have I told you stop staring with your mouth open? Little brat…”

Though it wasn’t without protest, Arashi finally let himself be dragged away, led by the wrist, pouting, like a little child. He still hadn’t forgiven Izumi for being… whatever it was he was being. Arashi hadn’t decided yet.

They passed through many different streets, winding their way to the main courtyard where the procession had been going on. It seemed only a little time had passed since he started shopping, for Arashi could still see the backs of the tournament contestants’ horses moving down the road toward the castle.

“Okay, are you gonna let go of me?” he asked sarcastically, his arm still in Izumi’s vicegrip.

“Not with that attitude, no. Who knows if you’re going to run off again or not. It was already a bother trying to find you once, and I’m not about to do it twice.”

Ohh, thought Arashi. Perhaps Izumi wasn’t as familiar with these streets as he was. He’d never seen the older boy at the markets, anyway. And yet here Izumi was, having come all the way out here just to find him.

“Izumi…” he said, a small smile returning to his face.

“What’s that? It’s Sena-senpai, right? When did you stop respecting your elders, huh?”

“You’re not _that_ much older than me… What about Izumi-chan…? Actually, that sounds really cute…” There was a frustrated noise in response, though Arashi didn’t think it was so bad. The serious, sharp-tongued boy was not someone Arashi had expected to save him, let alone skip a whole ceremony to chase after him. It was actually quite touching. “Anyway, Izumi-chan. You really came all the way out here for me? Oh goodness, you must’ve been so worried… aww… That’s so cute…”

“Don’t poke fun at me. When we get back, you’re going right back to training, you know. Sword training and some god damn manners.”

“Ugh… Can I get my ears pierced after, then?”

“Tch...” Izumi turned away from him. It wasn’t too far off to assume he was still scowling. “I’m giving you twice the amount of sword training, and you can’t run away until we’re done, got it?”

“You didn’t say no…”

Izumi scoffed, and Arashi giggled to himself all the way back to the castle.

\---

Tournaments were not exactly Arashi’s favorite thing in the world. His brother was always in them or watching them attentively, but Arashi was the other sort of person – the kind that would chat with the person next to him instead of watch. It’s not that it was exclusively boring, it was just mostly boring. The not-boring parts were usually when a new fighter was introduced, because he could observe how they looked (there was the rare brightly colored tunic) and how their swords looked (usually smaller than his brother’s broadsword). The rest was sort of a blur of clinking metal and cheers from the crowd of watching nobles.

A few matches in, his mind started to wander to Izumi again. The boy had stepped out to drag him all the way back to the castle, but instead of enjoying the tournament, Izumi had gone right back to greeting guests and training. Squires really had it hard, didn’t they? Arashi sighed. He couldn’t imagine living such a restrictive lifestyle. There used to be a point when he thought that knights were the most graceful, noble people… but perhaps he was better off just watching them rather than becoming one himself.

It was getting harder to sit still after a while, so Arashi excused himself, saying he was going to get a snack. It was just a cover, though, because he simply wanted to see what Izumi was up to.

Izumi greeted him in the usual fashion. “Stop following me around all the time. I’m trying to work.”

“Rude! I’m not exactly stopping you, am I?”

“Don’t be such a brat… Anyway, did you look at the fighting styles like I told you to? It’s a great reference for beginners.”

“Mhmm~ I did!” Arashi nodded and grinned, more amused at Izumi’s surprised face than anything. “It was interesting, I guess.”

He paused for a moment, only continuing when Izumi looked at him expectantly. “I mean, I was looking at their fighting styles too, okay? But did you see that man who had that golden yellow tunic and matched it with a blue shirt? How bold! I couldn’t wear it, but it truly looked good on him!” Izumi continued staring at him. “Oh alright already, there were some fighters who I thought were so graceful. They made the duels look effortless, and their sleeves waved in the wind so nicely… If I could wield a sword properly, I would fight like that…”

“Hmm…” Izumi was quiet for a moment, and his frown made Arashi think he was going to get scolded again for not being serious enough about it. But to his surprise, Izumi’s expression softened, just a little. “We can work with that. …Have you eaten?”

Arashi nodded. “Alright,” continued Izumi. “Let’s practice it before it slips from your mind completely.”

The older boy took Arashi’s wrist, and went straight back to the courtyard where they had practiced yesterday.

It was cute of him, really, Arashi mused. Izumi had said he was so busy, so this meant it was an incredibly kind gesture, one that Arashi knew wasn’t afforded to just anyone. But of course, he wouldn’t thank Izumi out loud.

When they got back, he took that beautiful little rapier back in his hands. He still couldn’t believe this thing could be used to fight, but Izumi was about to show him.

“Now if you wanna look good while doing this, you absolutely have to practice these things over and over—don’t look at me like that. Do you have any idea how much balance and strength goes into being able to deal strong enough blows to drive back your opponent, but still do it with poise and grace? You’ll have to do the same stuff as what I was teaching you yesterday.”

Normally Arashi would have tuned it all out, but today it really seemed like his senior was enjoying this. He grinned. “You’re so charming, Izumi-chan. Just this once, then.”

Izumi gave him a nasty smirk back. “You don’t get to decide that, Naru-kun.”

Arashi supposed Izumi had every right to smirk. His bratty pupil had actually come back and did some work, after all, and while they were only three years apart, well… Izumi was an official squire under the throne. As much as Arashi hated to work, it was a big privilege for him. And besides, Izumi’s voice saying cute things like “yes, that’s it”, “take it slow, Naru-kun”, and “good boy” was a reward in itself.

…Maybe he’ll try. Just a little.

After a bit of warmups and some swinging practice, Izumi wiped the sweat from his brow. “Alright, there we go, Naru-kun. Take that attack you just practiced and direct it at me.”

Arashi almost dropped the sword in shock. “Wait, Izumi-chan’s letting me spar with him?”

“No, there’s a big difference between sparring and practicing a move. Just give it a swing so I can test if you’re putting too much force into it or not.”

Izumi stood at the ready in his stance, facing Arashi. Unable to shake the surprise away, Arashi turned toward his senior.

“I still can’t believe this!”

“Just get on with it.” Izumi answered with a little smile.

It was just a little smile, but in Izumi language, it meant he was really having fun… So, of course Arashi would get excited about this. Ooh, finally! His stupidly serious friend was finally letting him take a (literal) stab at real fighting! One step closer to being a noble of the elegant and beautiful kind!

So, of course, he would put a little bit more energy into his swing, and of course, Izumi would be entirely unprepared to receive the full strength of the second son of Lord Narukami.

_Snap._

It was a clean, pretty sound for a clean, pretty sword. He looked at the hilt in his hands and the blade he so admired, split right in half where it had made contact with the other. The pointy end was on the ground… no, there were two pointy ends there.

He looked up sheepishly at his senpai, whose shocked face wasn’t quite as funny as the last time. The awkward smile on Arashi’s face was all that kept a lid on the deep-seated panic rising up inside him.

“Um… I guess I used too much force?”

Izumi stared back at him in disbelief.

“Didn’t I tell you to switch swords…?”


End file.
